Improving Rate Performance of Encapsulating Lithium-Polysulfide Electrolytes for Practical Lithium−Sulfur Batteries

Li Ling Su, Nan Yao, Zheng Li, Chen Xi Bi, Zi Xian Chen, Xiang Chen, Bo Quan Li, Xue Qiang Zhang*, Jia Qi Huang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The cycle life of high-energy-density lithium−sulfur (Li−S) batteries is severely plagued by the incessant parasitic reactions between Li metal anodes and reactive Li polysulfides (LiPSs). Encapsulating Li-polysulfide electrolyte (EPSE) emerges as an effective electrolyte design to mitigate the parasitic reactions kinetically. Nevertheless, the rate performance of Li−S batteries with EPSE is synchronously suppressed. Herein, the sacrifice in rate performance by EPSE is circumvented while mitigating parasitic reactions by employing hexyl methyl ether (HME) as a co-solvent. The specific capacity of Li−S batteries with HME-based EPSE is nearly not decreased at 0.1 C compared with conventional ether electrolytes. With an ultrathin Li metal anode (50 μm) and a high-areal-loading sulfur cathode (4.4 mgS cm−2), a longer cycle life of 113 cycles was achieved in HME-based EPSE compared with that of 65 cycles in conventional ether electrolytes at 0.1 C. Furthermore, both high energy density of 387 Wh kg−1 and stable cycle life of 27 cycles were achieved in a Li−S pouch cell (2.7 Ah). This work inspires the feasibility of regulating the solvation structure of LiPSs in EPSE for Li−S batteries with balanced performance.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere202318785
JournalAngewandte Chemie - International Edition
Volume63
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Mar 2024

Keywords

  • encapsulating lithium-polysulfide electrolyte
  • lithium−sulfur batteries
  • pouch cell
  • rate performance
  • solvation

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